Alleged kidnapping victim arrested on car theft

Man found in trunk of car

March 23, 2008 12:00:00 AM PDT

VALLEY CENTER, Calif. --

Riverside County officials say they've found a suspected car thief - locked in another car's trunk. Deputies were investigating a report Friday that three men assaulted another man in Lake Elsinore, handcuffed him and forced him into the trunk of a silver Honda Civic.

One of the men reportedly left the scene driving a second car - a black Honda.

The deputies tracked the men down to a home in Valley Center, where they were arrested on suspicion of kidnapping. They also found the man in the trunk of the silver Civic.

They later established that the black Civic had been reported stolen more than a week earlier and arrested the alleged kidnapping victim on suspicion of car theft.